Envelope opening machine



Feb. 10, 1942. L. w. LAWRENCE 2,272,323

I ENVELOPE OPENING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z eowmwmzzlae 1'- BY TV I "AB/Eb?" 3/ Feb. 10, 1942. w. LAWRENCE 2,272,323

ENVELOPE OPENING MACHINE Filed Feb. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fla -34 INVENT OR. is Onward/re we Patented F eb. 10, 1942 ENVELOPE OPENING MACHINE Leon W. Lawrence, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to The Bircher 00., Inc., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 24, 1941, Serial No. 380,132

16 Claims.

ject a novel arrangement and construction of pressing devices for preparing, guiding, and presenting the envelopes to the cutting mechanism to the end that the machine is adapted to handle efficiently thick envelopes as well as thin envelopes.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims and will be apparent from the following description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of the machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a top view partly in section showing the feed belt, pressing devices and cutting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a view taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 3 in the direction indicated by the arrows, and showing the approximate position of the presser devices when a thick envelope is being fed through the machine;

Fig. 5 is a view, similar to Fig. 4, showing the approximate position of the presser devices when a relatively thin envelope is being fed through the machine;

Fig. 6 is a view taken from the left of Fig. 3 showing how the pressing devices are mounted; and

Fig. 7 is a view taken substantially on the line l'| of Fig. 3 in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The letter opening machine, in which my invention is embodied, comprises a main supporting frame and housing I0 (Figs. 1 and 2) which may be of generally rectangular shape. The frame has a front wall ll, side walls [2 and I3, and a rear wall [4. The forward portion of the top of the frame 10 carries a horizontal work bed l5 while the rearward portion supports a vertically projecting frame wall I6 (Fig 4) to which is secured in any suitable manner a vertical work guide or plate [8. The horizontal work bed I5 and the vertical work guide Hi together define a work path along which the envelopes are fed, guided, and prepared for presentation to the cutting mechanism.

The cutting'mechanism is located toward the end of the work path and preferably comprises a pair of coaoting rotatable disk cutters l9 and 20 which are preferably made substantially in accordance with the disclosure of the patent to Keiser 1,838,840. The lower cutter disk 20 is fixed on a shaft 2| whichhas an adjustment longitudinally thereof in suitable bearings in the walls of the main frame. This disk and its shaft are rotated by driving means hereinafter described.

The shaft is adjustable so as to properly position the disk by any known or suitable device, although preferably of the construction and operation disclosed in the above mentioned patent. Thus the cutter disk 20 is adjustable toward or from the work guide l8 so as to vary from coarse to fine the width of the strip cut from the envelopes. The cutter disk 20 preferably has the front edge of its periphery beveled to produce a sharp cutting edge lying in the plane of its rear face for cooperation with the upper cutter disk IS.

The cutter disk l9 has the rear edge of its periphery beveled to form a sharp cutting edge in the plane of its forward face. The lower edge of the cutter disk l9 overlaps the rear upper face of the cutter disk 20 so as to provide a cutting pair when the lower cutting disk 20 is properly adjusted with respect to the cutter disk l9 as above mentioned. Cutter disk I9 is fixed on a shaft 23 rotatable and adjustable lengthwise thereof in hearings in the walls of the main frame. The shaft is preferably provided with spring means, as described in the above mentioned patent, for resiliently urging the shaft forwardly to urge the cutter disk 19 into yielding contact with the cutter disk 20. Cutter disk l9 and its shaft are rotated by the frictional engagement of the forward face of the disk IS with the rear face of the driving cutter disk 20. The cutter disks are rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 so as to tend to draw the work in the direction of feed and assist the feeding means.

The means for feeding the envelopes along the work path preferably comprises an endless belt 26 of rubber or other suitable material, preferably constructed in the manner disclosed in the patent to Keiser 1,667,120. The belt is carried by spaced pulleys 21 and 28 preferably arranged substantially as disclosed in the patent to Taylor 1 ,182,054. That is, thepulleys are so positioned that the upper surface of the belt projects upwardly through a slot 29 in the work bed (Figs. 1 and 2) so as to engage and feed the envelopes. The pulley 2'! is fixed on and rotated by shaft 2! and is preferably alined substantially parallel with the work guide I8. Pulley 28 is fixed on a shaft 30 rotating in suitable bearings in the walls of the main frame, and arranged to position the pulley at a greater distance from and at an appreciable angle to work guide l8.

With this arrangement, and by virtue of the specially designed belt as described in said patent 1,667,120, the upper feeding surface of the belt not only approaches the guide plate, as it moves toward the cutting mechanism, but also has a turning or twisting movement about its own longitudinal axis as described in said Patents Nos. 1,182,054 and 1,667,120. Thus the belt has a transverse twisting movement in a direction such that the upper surface thereof moves toward the guide plate [8 which serves to present and maintain the envelopes against the work guide I 8 prior to presentation of the envelopes to the cutting mechanism.

The pressing devices or feet embodying the present invention preferably comprise a pressing device 3| located adjacent the forward portion of the work path and a pair of pressing elements 32 and 33 located further along the work path and preferably adjacent the cutting mechanisni. The presser device or shoe 3| is preferably of the approximate shape and construction of the corresponding presser device shown in Lawrence Patent 2,220,251. This presser device is relatively short and is relieved at its ends particularly its forward end (Figs. 2 and 7) to facilitate engagement with the work and to form an intermediate somewhat pointed part 34 projecting downwardly for engagement with the envelope at the beginning of its feeding movement. The pointed part 34 serves to hold back and separate the overlying envelopes from the lowermost one to be fed.

The pressing device 3| also serves as a fulcrum or pivot for yieldingly resisting the feeding movement of the advancing edge of the envelope on the side of the belt opposite the work guide l8, with the result that the feeding movement imparted to the envelope by the belt at a point nearer the guide plate tends to turn or swing the envelope and to press its rear edge against the work guide l8. This function is illustrated in Fig. 1 which shows, in a somewhat exaggerated manner, a possible position of the envelope. As shown in dotted lines in this view the envelope has an initial angular position 35 prior to being swung to its correct feeding position 36. The inner side 31 of the pressing device 3| adjacent the feeding belt is preferably rounded, as shown in Fig.6, so that its contour conforms substantially to that of the belt and so as to serve the function of pressing the work into contact with the feed belt.

The pressing device or shoe 3! is yieldingly supported and guided by shank means (Fig. '7) comprising a pair of shanks 38 and 39 projecting upwardly from the top thereof. The shanks 38 and 39 are slidably mounted in bearings in the walls of a support or auxiliary housing 40 fixed in any suitable manner to the upwardly projecting wall l6 of the main frame and to a bracket 42 extending upwardly therefrom. Shank 38 is extended through the upper wall of the auxiliary housing 40 and carries a coiled compression spring 43 which bears against the upper wall of the housing to apply yielding pressure on the shoe so as to urge it into engagement with the work. The position of the shoe may be adjusted by a nut 44 which is threaded on the upper end of the shank 38 and engages the housing wall. It will thus be apparent that the presser shoe 3! is maintained in position for engagement with the work but has an independent resilient upward yielding movement to an extent depending on the thickness of the work fed beneath it by the belt.

The pressing elements 32 and 33, as previously mentioned, are located adjacent and are preferably just ahead of the cutting mechanism, one on each side of the feed belt as shown in Fig. 4. The primary object of the present invention is to provide an envelope opening machine capable of handling thick envelopes or unevenly filled envelopes and at the same time suitable for uniformly thin envelopes. Thick envelopes are relatively'stiff and non-yielding. For this reason and others I have found it desirable to employ two pressing devices one on each side of the belt adjacent the cutting mechanism so as to maintain such thick and stiff and unevenly filled envelopes in contact with the feed belt.

I have found further that improved results are obtained if the pressing elements 32 and 33 are rollers instead of conventional presser feet. The reason for this lies in the fact that the machine is particularly designed to handl envelopes varying widely in thickness and uniformity. In order to handle thin envelopes the pressing elements must be capable of movement to a position close to and in fact substantially in contact with the work bed. With this normal position of the pressing elements, dictated by the necessities of a thin envelope, when a thick envelope is fed the pressing elements are moved so far from the work bed as to compress (or tension) the springs, which yieldingl urge these pressing elements into engagement with the work, to an excessive degree. This causes excessive spring pressure which materially increases the friction and unduly impedes the travel of the envelopes along the work path. By employing rollers instead of conventional presser feet the resistance to movement of the envelopes through the machine is materiall decreased. Thick envelopes may be fed without increasing the resistance to movement of the envelopes to an objectionable degree.

I have further found that the action and relative position of the pressing rollers should be different when a thick envelope or one lacking uniformity is fed than when a thin envelope is fed. This difierence is illustrated in a somewhat exaggerated manner in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 4 I have shown the approximate position of the parts when a thick envelope is being fed through the machine. Due to the stiffness of a thick envelope the envelope does not wrap around the belt as in the case Of a thin envelope, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The stiffness of the envelope makes it desirable that the relative position of the pressing rollers 32 and 33 shall be capable of independent and automatic variation. When a thick envelope moves beneath the rollers 32 and 33 it tends to raise the outer roller 33 to a greater extent than the roller 32 due to the preferred degree of projection of the feed belt above the work table, the location of the rollers, and partly due perhaps to the fact that th inner roller 32 is engaging close to the edge of the envelope. When a thin envelope is fed, as indicated in Fig. 5, due to the fact that the envelope more or less conforms itself to the feed belt the outer roller 33 is not raised as high as the inner roller 32.

For the above reasons it is desirable that the rollers 32 and 33 shall be independently supported and independently pressed into engagement with the Work. For this purpose each of the rollers is rotatably mounted on a stub shaft 45 and carried respectively by independent arms 46 and The arms 46 and 41 are angular in shape, as indicated at 48 in Fig. 7, and are independently pivoted on a support 49 carried by the auxiliary frame 40, Each of the arms 46 and 41 has a tail piece 50 to which is connected a spring Each of the arms is provided with a stop 52 which may comprise a screw adjustably supported by the auxiliary frame.

It will now be observed that the springs 5| independently urge the arms 48 about the support 49 as a fulcrum into engagement with the work. It will further be noted that the fulcrum point 49 lies forwardly in the work path with respect to the point of contact of the pressing rollers 32 and 33. Thus as the envelopes are fed beneath the pressing rollers, the rollers tend to yield both in an upward direction and in the direction of movement of the work. This arrangement further decreases the resistance to movement caused by engagement of the rollers with the envelopes. Moreover the fact that the rollers are further from the fulcrum than the points of attachment of the springs 5| to the arms, permits a relatively large movement of the rollers without unduly increasing the tension of the springs.

The roller 32 which lies close to the cutting mechanism is preferably beveled, as shown in Fig. 4, and the action of this beveled roller is to crowd the contents of the envelope away from the edge to be cut. Because the rollers 32 and 33 are independently mounted and independently spring pressed the position of the roller 33 does not affect the position of the roller 32 so as to interfere with the crowding action of the beveled surface of the roller 32.

For the purpose of insuring that the envelopes will be guided beneaththe rollers 32 and 33, a finger 56 is mounted on the underside of the auxiliary frame, as shown at 51. The finger may be slightly yieldable .and is located preferably directly above the work path and substantially in alinement with the roller 32. Thus if the envelope, as it moves along the work path, should tend to buckle the finger 56 will guide it beneath the roller 32 and also beneath the roller 33.

The work guide 8, at the opening through which the disks I9 and 20 operate, may be provided in advance of the point of cutting with an edge forming device of the general character disclosed in said Patents Nos. 1,838,840 and 2,220,- 261. The forming of the envelope edge for cutting is assisted also by a spring finger 58 projecting adjacent the lower disk at the point of cutting, substantially as shown and described in said Patent No. 1,182,054, for cooperation with pressing roller 32 in flattening and presenting the envelopes each in proper condition and position for cutting as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

A guard 59 is secured to the work guide l8 by a bracket 60 and screws 6|, the construction and function of which is well known in the art. The guard has its lower end 62 bent and extends in the direction of movement of the envelopes and aids in positioning the stack of envelopes for presentation to the feed belt and presser devices.

The driving mechanism for the feed belt andcutting mechanism is preferably of the known arrangement in which a motor 63 is suitably mounted within and on the walls of the main frame II with its shaft and pulley '64 projecting at the rear side of the frame. Pulley 64 carries a belt 65 which drives a pulley 66 fixed 0n the rear end of the shaft 2 I. The shaft 2|, as previously mentioned, carries'and drives the lower cutting disk 20 and also the pulley 21 of the feed belt.

In operation a stack of envelopes is placed upon the left hand end of the work bed I5 against the guide plate I8 and guard 59. The work bed carries a projecting part or spur 61 for tilting the inner end of the stack downwardly to suitably present the inner end of the lowermost envelope to the feed belt. With the motor in operation the lowermost envelope is drawn inwardly or in the direction of the work path by the feed belt. The forward edge of the envelope engages the shoe or presser foot 3| at its point 34. Should the envelope be askew, as indicated in dotted lines at 35 (Fig. 1), the presser foot 3| tends to swing the envelope straight and press its inner edge against the work guide l8. The envelope is then fed along the guide beneath shoe 3| which rises as the envelope thickness requires while pressing the envelope down against the feed belt, This action of the shoe 3| being suited to its function without interference from any position or movement of pressing rollers 32 and 33.

As the envelope progresses along the work path guided by the finger 56, should the action of the finger be required, it readily passes beneath the pressing rollers 32 and 33 which serve to hold the envelope in feed-ing contact with the belt and through the machine.

As the envelope is fed toward the cutting mechanism, the described action of the feed belt presses and flattens the edge to be out against the work guide l8 thereby tending to work the contents of the envelope back from the edge to be cut. This action is assisted by the turning and feeding movement of the belt 26 on the lower face of the envelope which tends to work the envelope toward the work guide and cutting mechanism and relatively to its contents. The beveled edge of the roller 32 further contributes to this result by acting to squeeze or pinch the contents of the envelope back from the edge to be out. By these various means the edge to be cut is first spaced from the contents and flattened against the guide plate. Such flattened edge, however, is subsequently pressed down toward the plane of the envelope and extended for the cutting operation by the action of the edge former and spring finger above mentioned.

It will be noted that the rollers 32 and 33 are substantially in alinement transversely of the work path so that they engage the envelope substantially simultaneously and tend to maintain it in contact with the feed belt. By reason of the independent mounting of the rollers, even with a stiff and relatively thick envelope, pressing contact of both rollers with the envelope will be made. Moreover, notwithstanding the fact that envelopes as thick as one-half inch are fed through the machine, due to the use of rollers and by reason of the facts that the rollers are fulcrumed as above described and are free to shift in the direction of the movement of the envelope, the resistance to movement caused by the rollers 32 and 33 is not unduly great.

It has been found that the independent and sensitively flexible presser elements, as above described, materially increase the ability of the machine to guide, condition and reliably cut envelopes of varying thickness and bulk ranging from a substantially empty envelope to one one half inch or more in thickness. The thickness of the envelopes which can be reliably handled is considerably multiplied and the eificiency and capacity of the machine materially'increased. Moreover the machine is able to cut efficiently unevenly filled envelopes.

The invention thus accomplishes its purposes, and while the invention has been described, according to law, it is to be understood that such embodiment is intended by way of illustration, rather than by way of limitation, as it is further contemplated that the advantages of the invention may be accomplished by various embodiments of its principle, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a pair of independently mounted pressing elements located on opposite sides of said belt and substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path, each of the pressing elements being mounted for upward and down- Ward movement through its full range of travel independently of the position of the other pressing element, and means for yieldingly urging each of said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently of the other.

2. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a;

pair of independently mounted pressing rollers located on opposite sides of said belt and substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engage-,

ment with the envelope.

3. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a pair of independently mounted pressing elements located on opposite sides of said belt and in a position to engage the envelope substantially sisides of said belt and substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path, one of said pressing elements being a roller having a bevelled surface for crowding the contents of the envelope away from the edge of the envelope to be cut, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing elements into engagement with said envelope independently of each other.

5. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a pair of independently mounted pressing rollers located on opposite sides of said belt substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path and in a position to engage the envelope substantially simultaneously, the roller closest to the cutting mechanism having a bevelled surface for crowding the contents of the envelope away from the edge of the envelope to be cut, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independently of each other.

6. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a presser device for initial retarding engagement with a portion of said envelope to swing another portion thereof against said guide means, a pair of independently mounted pressing elements located on opposite sides of said belt and substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path for engaging said envelope subsequent to said pressing device, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently of each other.

7. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and .in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a presser device for initial retarding engagement with a portion of said envelope to swing another portion thereof against said guide means, a pair of independently mounted pressing elements located on opposite sides of said belt and substantially in alignment with each other transversely of the work path for engaging said envelope subsequent to said pressing device, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently of each other, at least one of said pressing elements being a roller.

8. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a pressing device for initial retarding engagement with a portion of said envelope to swing another portion thereof against said guide means, a pair of independently mounted rollers located on opposite sides of said belt and between said pressing device and said cutting mechanism, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independently of each other.

9. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism, in combination, a pressing device for initial retarding engagement with a portion of said envelope to swing another portion thereof against said guide means, a pair of independently mounted rollers located on opposite sides of said belt and between said pressing device and said cutting mechanism, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independently of each other, the roller closest to the cutting mechanism having a bevelled surface for crowding the contents of the envelope away from the edge of the envelope to be out.

10. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a presser device located adjacent the beginning of the work path and remote from the cutting mechanism, a pair of pressing elements located adjacent the cutting mechanism, an independent support for each of said pressing elements, and means for yieldingly urging each of said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently of the elevation at which the other is held by contact with the envelope.

11. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a presser device located adjacent the beginning of the work path and remote from the cutting mechanism, a pair of pressing elements located adjacent the cutting mechanism, an independent support for each of said pressing elements, means for yieldingly urging each of said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently of the elevation at which the other is held by contact with the envelope, and means between said presser device and said pressing elements for directing the envelope beneath said pressing elements as it moves along the work path.

12. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a presser device located adjacent the beginning of the work path and remote from the cutting mechanism, a pair of pressing rollers located adjacent the cutting mechanism, one on each side of said rotating belt, and means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independently of each other.

13. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to a cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a presser device located adjacent the beginning of the work path and remote from the cutting mechanism, a pair of pressing rollers located adjacent the cutting mechanism, one on each side of said rotating belt, means for yieldingly urging said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independently of each other, and means between said presser device and said pressing elements for directing the envelope beneath said pressing elements as it moves along the work path.

14. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a pair of pressing elements, an independent pivoted support for each of said pressing elements, said supports being pivoted with respect to the pressing elements in a position such that the pressing elements may shift in the direction of movement of the envelope, and means for yieldingly urging each of said pressing elements into engagement with the envelope independently'of the elevation at which the other is held by contact with the envelope.

15. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path and in engagement with said envelope guide and to cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a pair of pressing elements located adjacent the cutting mechanism, one on each side of the rotating belt, at least one of said pressing elements being a roller, an independent pivoted support for each of said pressing elements, said pivot being located with respect to the pressing element in a position such that the pressing element may shift in the direction of movement ofthe envelope.

16. In an envelope opening machine having a work path comprising an envelope support and an envelope guide and wherein a rotating belt is provided to feed the envelope along the work path'and in engagement with said envelope guide.

and to cutting mechanism located toward the end of the work path, in combination, a pressing device located adjacent the beginning of the work path and remote from the cutting mechanism, a pair of pressing rollers located adjacent the cutting mechanism one on each side of the rotating belt, an independent pivoted support for each of said pressing rollers, said pivots being located with respect to the pressing rollers in a position such that the pressing rollers may yield in the direction of movement of the envelope,

and means for yieldingly urging each of said pressing rollers into engagement with the envelope independent of the other.

LEON W. LAWRENCE. 

